Migrants: the Frontex agency announces the resignation of its controversial boss
Fabrice Leggeri had been the executive director of Frontex since 2015. © Florion Goga, Reuters
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Patron of the European Coast Guard and Border Guard Agency, the French Fabrice Leggeri was the figure of the impermeability of European borders and was regularly accused of tolerating illegal refoulement of migrants.
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The announcement was made on Friday 29 April by the Frontex board of directors.
It comes at the end of a two-day meeting following the investigation by the European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf) against three of its members, including Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri.
According to the Frontex press release, he submitted his resignation on Thursday and the board of directors of the European agency concluded that his mandate had come to an end.
He is replaced by his deputy Aija Kalnaja
This resignation "
opens the possibility of a new beginning
" for Frontex, said a German government spokesman at a press conference.
It "
gives the possibility of fully clarifying the accusations in order to create transparency and ensure that all Frontex operations take place in compliance with European law
", he continued.
"
Disloyal
"
Executive Director of Frontex since 2015, Fabrice Leggeri was targeted by a non-public report in early 2022 from Olaf which, according to the French weekly
Le Point
, accuses him of "
not having respected the procedures, having shown himself to be disloyal -à-vis the European Union and bad personal management
".
But this investigation comes against the backdrop of regular accusations, in particular from NGOs, of practices of illegal refoulement of migrants and complacency towards the Greek authorities, for example, on brutal returns to Turkey.
Last Wednesday, the daily
Le Monde
published an investigation describing the refoulement of migrants without any respect for the codes of procedure.
According to the French newspaper, Frontex carried out several illegal returns of exiles to Turkey, while the latter had arrived in Greek waters, which makes them eligible to seek asylum in Greece.
►
Also to listen: Fabrice Leggeri, director of Frontex, a man on borrowed time?
In seven years at the head of Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri has supported the strengthening of the agency, which has been considerably beefed up and whose staff - with armed officers now - should reach 10,000 coast guards and border guards from here 2027.
(
With
AFP)
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